Turkish Covid-19 researchers decide government interference
Ayla Jean Yackley in Istanbul
Turkish medical professionals called for an end to restrictions on independent investigation into the outbreak of coronavirus, saying an “unusual” requirement to seek first government approval had resulted in the rejection of at least one major study.
A regulation introduced in April forces scientists to seek permission from the Ministry of Health for pandemic research, a break with previous practice of applying to independent ethics committees, according to a letter signed by members of the Turkish Thoracic Society and published in The Lancet medical journal on Saturday.
Although the ministry approved most of the applications, it rejected the Thoracic Society’s proposal for a major observational study, as well as others, without telling others why, they wrote in the letter. The ministry denied obstruction of investigation in May, saying the new measure was intended to gain access to national data.
The researchers also noted that Turkey’s decision not to follow all the World Health Organization’s classifications may have led to thousands of deaths from the disease.
Statistics released by the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, pictured in the Black Sea city of Rize on Sunday, only include patients who tested positive with a polymerase chain reaction test, which showed a significant false -negative rate has.
Excessive mortality in Istanbul alone was 4,723 deaths between March 11 and July 5, compared to the average rate of the previous three years. Of those, Covid-19 deaths in the city were 2,771, meaning 1,952 deaths were not reported, they said.
“Tensions soon began to build among the public sector and medical and scientific organizations due to the lack of transparency of the Ministry of Public Health, their unwillingness to share basic data and its refusal to cooperate,” she wrote, adding to a lack of protective equipment for health care workers was another source of friction.
The number of new daily cases in Turkey is moving at its highest level in seven weeks, with 1,192 new cases reported on Sunday, bringing the total to almost 250,000. Nearly 6,000 people have died.
